Treasure

I've spent the past week as part of SonTreasure Island Vacation Bible School at St. Matthew. This week's journey -- actually one that was the theme that Gospel Light released first in 1998, is about God's love for everyone. Each day we've learned a different aspect of God's love. So far it we've talked about:

• God's love is giving
• God's love is kind
• God's love is caring
• Gods love is forgiving

Today -- as we wrap things up for another great VBS year at St. Matthew, we experience the reality that:

• God's love is forever

Now we've just got to remember that for the children and adults at VBS, plus all the children and adults in all the world:

• God's love is unconditional

Wounds

Tonight at our youth group meeting we experienced Gross Theology #6 -- 'Wounds'. We had an excellent discussion about emotional wounds, scars, how God doesn't just "make it all better" and how God continues to love us no matter what the wound, what the reason and what the situation.
We also made some really cool fake wounds.
If you want to try out this lesson with a group -- let me know.

Silence

This past Sunday I arrived early at St. Matthew and took the John Deere tractor out to the back of our wooded 5-acre lot. It is marvelously secluded. I drove the tractor on the overgrown trails with the mower down -- looking to do some necessary clearing of overgrowth while enjoying some contemplative time. As I drove and emptied my mind of everything except staying on the path, I was bombarded with more debris than have ever encountered on the trails. There were large tree branches that had fallen over the trail and logs that blocked my way. But somehow I was able to drive under, around or through to keep moving forward on the path. It wasn't until today that I thought deeper about that experience and realized that overgrowth, debris, large branches and logs may make a detour or harder work necessary to stay on the path, but life's and faith's journey does indeed continue.

Desperation and Hope

I've posted a new article on the "Opening the Bible" blog at i.ucc. It's about how anguish and desperation and hopelessness can take us to a place where there are no masks, nothing hidden and no fakeness. Maybe there is where hope can begin to grow. What are your thoughts about "Desparation and Hope?"

Desperation hides very little, if anything. Maybe it's in that raw, genuine anguish that hope begins to grow.

This week we're taking a look at Psalm 130 and Mark 5:21-43. Here are two Bible passages that offer desperation and hope.

In the Mark passage we see two miracles of Jesus. Jesus raises Jairus daughter and a woman bleeding for 12 years is healed. These are two amazing events that came to people who were completely desperate. In both cases there's no real celebration afterwards. As a matter of fact, in the case of Jairus' daughter, Jesus tells everyone to keep quiet about it.

Why is there no huge celebration here? And why was there no celebration after the woman reached out to the fringe on Jesus' robe and was healed after bleeding for 12 years? Maybe in these stories God is revealing something else.

Look at the verses in Psalm 130. Out of the depths I cry to you Oh, Lord. Lord, Hear my voice!Those words communicate pain, anguish, and desperation.

Imagine the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years. Doctors had done her no good. If fact, things were just getting worse. In her desperation for a cure she dared to reach out to touch the fringe of Jesus' robe. In her pain and anguish she reached out.

Imagine Jairus. His daughter was near death. And in his fear and trembling he cried out and sent for Jesus only to have too much time pass and have his daughter die. He must have experienced horrible pain and deep anguish. His desperation had turned to hopelessness.
Can you remember a time when you have been desperate in pain and anguish? Have you ever put on a church face" or "public face" and gone out and smiled and said Oh, fine! when people asked, How are you? I think we all hide our pain most of the time. I know I do. And all too often we put on a face to hide our desperation. We probably do a pretty good job, too. Because no one seems to notice.

Oh but there is hope here. The writer of the Psalm also says, My hope is in the Lord. And I wait for the LordThe woman who reached out in her desperation was healed. And Jairus daughter was brought back to life!

Out of the depths I cry to you, Oh Lord. Lord, Hear my voice!

When we are in pain; when we are filled with anguish. When things seem hopeless God is there. When we cry out God hears us. God is a source of strength and compassion. That compassion often takes the form of a shoulder to cry on. It often takes the form of a person who will listen.
It is all right to cry out. It is all right to come to God with your pain and anguish.

When our desperation and hopelessness strips us bear of whatever we use to hide our authentic selves, I believe we find that God brings love, compassion, healing hope.

The CDs have arrived!

The children's music CD, "The Man with the Guitar", that I recorded while I was on sabbatical, has finally arrived. It's a limited edition CD release. I know that it's not some kind of super-produced wonder, but it's not bad. You'll probably like it and if you have young kinds they'll love it! I have a web page devoted to this wonderful new record. You can take a look there -- or if you really don't want to even wait that long, find me or buy it online! Just click the button: (not to find me -- to buy it online)

Update: You can now buy individual tracks and the whole album from Napster.

Fizzy Fun

Marko posted about this strange, messy game on his blog about a month ago.
He was referring to a game he found on Steve's blog.
Steve has some pictures too -- if you scroll down the page

Then, after what can only be called 'minimal planning', we played the game at St. Matthew. We call it Fizzy Fun. You can see a few more pictures, instructions and a short video clip here.

New verse

This morning at "Movin' and Singin'" -- a children's songtime I lead for the Warrenville Park District, I sang this song. Now I realize that I have to remember it-- so why not put it here?

(For farmers)

Rain, rain
Stay, stay
I don't care what the children say
My crops want to drink today
So rain, rain
Stay, stay

Frustration

I have a new "Opening the Bible" blog post at i.ucc.org. It's about the frustration I think Jesus felt while getting the disciples ready. It's called "I was taking a nap!"

Jesus spent time with the disciples sharing the things that others didn't get. He was teaching them to look for more and to be people who challenged others to trust in Jesus.
And apparently on this day, Jesus was tired.

In this reading, from Mark 4:35-41, Jesus and the disciples got into a boat and headed across the lake. Jesus went and took a nap. Some say he was napping because he was going to show the disciples God's authority over the wind and the waves later. I think Jesus was tired.
He slept through the rocking of the boat and the crashing waves only to be awakened by the frightened disciples. They didn't understand how Jesus could be sleeping at such a dangerous time on the boat. I'm sure they were amazed that the storm hadn't woken him up before they did.

And Jesus simply told the storm to be quiet. And it was quiet. Sometimes I wonder if right here Jesus was waking up, feeling a bit crabby, and instead of saying something nice he said something more like "Hey! I was taking a nap! Shut up wind! I was sleeping!"

But that's not the frustrated mood I'm really thinking of with this passage. Instead, I'm looking at Jesus frustration as he says, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" It is as if Jesus was saying, "You're not ready to do the work I have for you."

Yet the frustration I see in a "just woke up from a nap" Jesus doesn't keep the work of God from being done. In pretty short order, Jesus sent the disciples out to preach. As frustrated as he was getting woken up from a needed nap -- and as frustrated he was at their lack of faith, He sent them out. They weren't ready. But they were sent.

I don't think any of us are ready to do the things God wants us to do. But I believe we are sent anyway. We may frustrate God to no end with our mistakes, our fear and our lack of faith, but God is capable of calming the storm -- and getting God's work done. I think it's nice to know that we can be part of that work. We don't have to feel or even be ready. I guess what we really need to be is willing.

Some More Explaining to Do

The blog post at i.ucc.org from earlier this week became a sermon for today. It's called . . . Some Explaining to Do. You can read the text of it (adjusted to add comments from during and just after the worship service) here and if you want to listen to an mp3 of the sermon you can get that here.

The Turning - Learning to Lose

Back on April 7 I mentioned that I was writing an album review for a record that was due in stores in June.
Well, the review finally came out in print (Well, it came out a couple of weeks ago -- but the magazine doesn't have an online version and I had to get permission to reprint the review here.)
Here's my review:

1. Artist: The Turning
2. Album: Learning to Lose
3. Label: RKT
4. URL: turningmusic.com
5. Genre: Modern Rock
6. TIYL: U2, Coldplay, Switchfoot, Jars of Clay, Elvis (Hey -- who doesn't like Elvis?)
7. Reviewer: Kirk Moore, St. Matthew United Church of Christ, Wheaton, Illinois revkirk.com
   

Everyone's faith journey has catastrophes. We find hope in what comes after the sadness. The Turning's first major CD release reflects the journey of the band over the past 5 years as well as the journey of faith we are all on.
The Turning's music is tight, well-produced and pretty standard modern-rock style. Learning to Lose's appeal is to the countless music fans that visit myspace and purevolume on a regular basis looking for something loud and driving. The songs are filled with great harmonies and excellent guitar hooks. But what invites young and old to keep listening is the depth of the lyrics. The songs express anguish, hopelessness, desperation, devotion and ultimately hope.

There's not a throwaway track on the CD, but some ministry standouts include:

• Home to You: A lament that sees the singer realizing how many times they turn away from God and to their own devices. It celebrates that God never gives up on them.
• Through All the Earth: Praise bands will want to sing this song of Glory to God
• Numb: Tragedy strikes and all the singer can do is feel numb. The singer, still feeling nothing, looks to God to break their heart.
• For You: A love song from frontman Jacob McGinnis to his wife. This may become a favorite "first dance" number at wedding receptions this summer and beyond.
• Heart is Free: A song that offers hope when we're at the end of all we have tried to do ourselves.

The songs on Learning to Lose work well individually to reach students who are experiencing pain in their lives. However, an extended retreat or meeting series that hears and experiences the faith journey of the songs will invite students to really reflect on their walk with Jesus and be moved to see hope in their own anguish while encouraging one another to trust God on their journey.

A Wedding

I'm the pastor at a wedding ceremony today. It's for a grown-up who was a youth a long time ago. I was the youth minister. Now he's marrying another grown-up.
I'm so old.

I get to perform a few wedding ceremonies every year. I can SCUBA dive too, so I'm available for underwater weddings. I haven't done one yet, but I do have the domain name divepastor.com.

I know couple's can't actually talk underwater (unless they have those super expensive masks) but they can seal the marriage with a kiss!

Endless Trail

Turkey Run was simply wonderful. Our campsite came complete with some very bold raccoons that fought over whatever food they found right outside the boy's tent in the middle of the night. First I heard some really slurpy eating sounds (not completely unlike teenage boy eating sounds) followed by growling and fighting sounds.

We canoed, hiked, sang campfire songs, made wonderful foil-pack dinners, ate s'mores, ate fresh doughnuts for breakfast, had a picnic lunch at a park, went go-karting and miniature golfing, played arcade games, ate dinner at Portillos and still made it back to St. Matthew by 7:30 pm.

One particular part of the trip I'd like to report further: I took the whole group on what was planned to be a one-hour hike through Turkey Run State Park. However, at some point I wasn't paying close attention to the trails. (They are numbered -- and I was sure they all ended up coming back to the river) and we ended up walking on the trials for what turned into a 3+ hour hike. Thankfully it wasn't too warm and we arrived back at the campsite before dark. We had time to put together our foil-pack dinners and put them on the hot coals before dark. We did eat in pretty dim conditions, however.
The red, yellow and green peppers, along with the orange carrots, didn't give quite the vibrant presentation in the dark.

Gobble Gobble

I'm going to spend the next two days on an end of the year Canoe trip with the confirmation students from St. Matthew UCC. We'll be headed down the Sugar Creek and staying at Turkey Run State Park. I know there will be more we'll get to do too -- I'll report in detail in a few days.

Some Explaining to Do

In a followup blog post to last week's entry at i.ucc.org, I've written a new Bible reflection about Mark 4:26-34. It's called 'Some explaining to do." (Though I thought of calling it "More riddle-talk.")

More seeing but not perceiving, hearing but not understanding. But now there's some explaining happening.

In the blog article relating to Isaiah 6:1-8 (and 9-10) I posed the possibility that the "Seeing but not perceiving, hearing but not understanding" lines from both Isaiah and Jesus quoting Isaiah were an invitation to dig deeper rather than a command or "reality statement" that some people were never going to understand the words or their meaning.

In one of this week's Bible readings, Mark 4:26-34, Jesus tells more parables. This time they are about farming and about how plants grow. He talks about the tiny mustard seed and the large plant that comes from it. You may have heard the phrase, "The faith of a mustard seed" referring to how small things begin and how amazingly large they can become through faith in God.

And again I find interest in a verse right at the end of the reading. In verses 33 and 34 the explanation that Jesus always talked to the people in riddle-talk -- parables. But Jesus would do further explanation to the disciples in private.

There is more to learn! There is more to understand! There is more to seek! Jesus talked about these things with his disciples. He got into smaller groups and really hashed out the stories. Jesus and the disciples were involved in what I think we would describe as "midrash" -- where rabbis and students discuss scripture and the possible meanings. They tend to look at things from several angles and try to really chew on things as they seek deeper and deeper meaning.

I think Jesus example of digging deeper into the stories with the disciples further supports the idea that the stories weren't meant to turn people away or to confuse them to the point of giving up. They were an invitation to learn more.

Our discussions here are also an invitation. Let's engage each other and engage the Bible. Let's continue to seek deeper meaning in what the still-speaking God reveals.

Final Day

About 3 am, a loud thunderclap woke me up. Though I did get back to sleep, it rained for the next three hours. There would be no motorcycle ride today. (Well, that and the fact that I had a guitar and cooler at Elmhurst College that I had to bring home when the conference meeting was over.)
After a small breakfast (I arrived at about 8 am) it was into the next plenary (do you like that word?) where we celebrated church and ordination milestone anniversaries. (I learned that St. Matthew Senior Pastor Neal Sadler is celebrating 25 years of ordained ministry!) We had significant discussion about an emergency resolution calling for a more humane US immigration policy. Though we passed the resolution, there was significant dissent due mostly to the wording of the resolution. I think most everyone supported the spirit of the resolution. It seems as though it was passed for study in congregations, but also was passed to send to General Synod in 2007. We also passed, without much discussion at all, a previously passed, but now slightly changed resolution calling for no more Depleted Uranium weapons. We're sending this resolution to General Synod too. (Resolution text will be linked when it is available on the Illinois Conference UCC website)
Our closing worship service offered moving music from the United Campus Ministries Choir from Champaign as well as a wonderful message from Dow Edgerton. He really focused on challenging us to pray with the Holy Spirit. Let the Spirit continue to move us and to guide us.
And then we were done.
One last note -- I thoroughly enjoyed having a conversation with Rev. Sterling Cary, retired Illinois Conference Minister, as well as listening to and laughing with our outgoing Illinois Conference president, Rev Joe Mills.
Annual Meeting 2007 is June 8-10 at the Clock Tower Inn in Rockford.

Day 2

Day 2 of the Illinois Conference 42nd Annual Meeting started too early. It's my own fault, as I elected to stay at home and drive in each day. I also arranged for breakfast so I needed to get there by about 7:30 am. The weather was mostly nice so I hopped on the motorcycle and headed east. (imagine the "vroom, vroom!" sound effects in your head)
Our first business meeting (plenary) offered the discussion and passing of the Illinois Conference Youth Initiative's Resolution calling for the conference to place a priority on youth ministry. Nobody was going to vote against it. However, (well, not however, but I can't think of the right transition word) Jonathan Knight, Acting Fox Valley Association Minister and ICYI staff liaison, said something like this, "Don't vote for this resolution . . . Because you like youth. Vote for it and then go back to your home churches and do something about it!"
Associate Conference Minister Jorge Morales offered a vibrant report where he shared his passion for Illinois Conference church planting and nurturing, especially in the area of Hispanic congregations.
We also spent necessary and informative discussion time with the 2007 proposed budget. We passed that too.
Conference Minister Jane Fisler Hoffman presented her annual report. You can tell her passion lies in challenging congregations and pastors to have pastors truly lead -- not rule. She challenged us all to provide excellent leadership to congregations.
During the afternoon we spent time in a ministry marketplace -- part of or Open Spaces Technology plan for revisioning how conference ministries will work in the future. I spent my time in a group talking about Youth Ministry in the conference. (Others we in any of about 18 groups) In the Youth Ministry group, we decided to work on a plan that calls for a full-time, professional staff person devoted to youth ministry at the conference level as well as plans to provide more opportunities for youth in the conference to connect. We're gathering again July 15 to talk about sending at least 50 youth from the conference to General Synod 2007 in Hartford, Connecticut.
Our evening worship service was a weekend highlight. The service was planned and presented by the Illinois Conference Youth Committee. Katie Mellentine, a 16 year old leader of ICYI, delivered the sermon, "Timothy's Challenge." I know many were moved by her journey of faith.
The evening wrapped up with some silliness down in the Blue Jays Roost -- Magic tricks, games and Karaoke too!
It was starting to rain as I rode my motorcycle home.

Day 1

Granted, these "reports" are only going to reflect what I've experienced at the conference meeting. Yesterday there were two sessions where we had about 15 options for workshops. Here's where I went:
First I was deep down in the basement of Frick Hall in a place called the Blue Jay's Roost. I'm sure the students at Elmhurst appreciate the comedy of having a roost in a dungeon. It's a cozy, inviting place with lots of little tables, pool, foosball, a huge TV and some comfy couches. I had a great time as we heard Bryan Sirchio play music, lead us in games and discussion and invite us to ponder the question, "What would love do?" at his session called "The Ultimate Adventure: Serving God Outside the Comfort Zone." He said that when we seek to do what love would do, God can never be far away. Bryan also started to teach us a song about love. We might even help lead it tomorrow (OK -- that would be tonight) at the youth-themed worship service.
Second I got to meet Jeff Harmon, youth minister at Plainfield Congregational United Church of Christ. Jeff has some amazing gifts for using technology in a presentation. The workshop, "Can you hear me now?" used technology (powerpoint, DVD, video projection) to invite us to consider "Why do you do what you do?" and to move us into a direction of letting God's call be out motivation.
Our evening worship service offered some wonderful handbell music from the handbell ringers from Union Church in Hinsdale as well as a moving sermon from Rev. Linda Jaramillo: Executive Minister of the UCC's Justice and Witness Ministries . She spoke of offering God's extravagant welcome even to (I think she might have also meant especially to) people who don't like us (and who we don't like) and to people who disagree with us.
After a short business meeting and a short "This really isn't a luau -- but here are some fun songs for us to sing" time down in the Roost (I love saying that) I think I got home at 11:30 pm. I'm planning on being back for Day 2 just after 7 am.
A long day - but an excellent one.

Illinois Conference UCC meeting -- preview

Today begins three days of the 42nd annual meeting for the Illinois Conference, United Church of Christ. We're meeting at Elmhurst College. This year's theme is "God is Still Speaking . . . Summoned to Serve." I'm really looking forward to the whole event -- as it has been several years since I've been able to attend the whole thing.
The featured speakers at this year's meeting are

Rev. Linda Jaramillo: Executive Minister of the UCC's Justice and Witness Ministries
Rev. Dow Edgerton: Academic Dean and Associate Professor of Ministry at Chicago Theological Seminary, and
Ms. Katie Mellentine: Member of Granville United Church of Christ and the Illinois Conference Youth Initiative (ICYI)

I'll post some reaction to the meeting here over the next few days.

Not Understanding

I've written a new blog entry at i.ucc.org. It's about the call of Isaiah in Isaiah 6:1--8. Naturally, I spend most of my thoughts on verses 9-10. It's called "Something more to learn."

Hearing but not understanding. Seeing but not perceiving. What is it that we're missing?
This week's Bible reading comes from Isaiah 6:1-8. So naturally I'm going to really talk about verses just after the reading.

Isaiah 6:9 - 10: And God said, Go and say to this people: Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand. Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed.

The Isaiah 6:1-8 reading is about God's glory and Isaiah's perceived inferiority and God's call and Isaiah's response to God's call to share God's news with everyone. Isaiah's willingness to step forward even when he felt unprepared and frightened is a great example for others who are afraid to stand up and share God's unconditional love with everyone.

But those verses after the "send me!" from Isaiah have always bothered me. It's as if I don't have the faculties to completely understand what they are saying. I've heard that it means that there will always be people who will reject what God's followers have to say, but that we continue to say in anyway. I've heard that the rejection is a test to see if we're really following God's call. I've heard that God hardens some hearts and lets others be open. I've heard that when Jesus quoted these words in Matthew 13 and Mark 4 that he was necessarily excluding some people from ever receiving the good news. I've thought that the verses were meant to chide those who ought to know better and still turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the needs of those who are persecuted, moved to the fringe and unloved.

And I don't think any of that is complete with what the verses say and with how Jesus used them. I think the verses are an invitation to dig deeper and discover more about what the Bible passages mean. I think that the parables Jesus told invited the listener to search for more because they were confused at the first hearing. I think that those who heard the words of Isaiah and the other prophets were invited to continue searching for more that would be revealed through God's word as they contemplated, studied, discussed and prayed about what they had heard.

I think the words from Isaiah 9:9-10, along with them being quoted in Matthew 13 and Mark 4, are verses that invite us to learn more. They invite us to realize, as John Robinson did as he spoke to the Pilgrims departing for the new world, God "has yet more light and truth to break forth out of his holy word."

There's more to learn, more to understand, more to seek. God is still speaking,

I support the protection of marriage

I support offering pre-marital counseling services to all couples wishing to be married
I support offering marriage enrichment events to help couples grow in their relationship with each other
I support offering marriage counseling services to couples who are having a difficult time in their relationship

The "marriage protection" amendment does nothing in this order. Though I don't think it's possible to have an amendment do anything of that. The FMA simply curtails civil rights.

Abuse, lack of communication, exploitation, infidelity, financial hardship and ultimately divorce destroys marriage.

No federal amendment will change that.

Let's protect the abused
Let's be on the side of the exploited and victimized.
Let's find ways to help people have fidelity in marriage.
Let's help couples to express love for one another and to communicate with one another.
Let's help couples to end the cycle of poverty.
Let's help loving couples be able to have the rights afforded them with marriage.

250 New Congregations in 5 years

United Church of Christ Local Church Ministries' board of directors have endorsed planting and welcoming 250 new churches into the UCC by 2011 and as many as 1,600 new congregations by 2021. The new churches are expected to come from brand-new congregations and existing congregations become affiliated with the UCC.

The plan is part of a new Evangelism report called "Now is the Kairos Time." I haven't been able to find an online version of it yet. But the report in the United Church News says that "Kairos" has a four-fold strategy:

1. nurturing a church culture that embraces and engages in new church development
2. creating systems that recognize, recruit, assess, train and coach new church planters
3. encouraging and empowering congregational multiplication [churches starting churches]
4. preparing for increased outreach and welcome of affiliating [already-existing] congregations

I think it's a pretty impressive goal -- in a direction we really need in the UCC. It's high time we had a workable plan for planting and nurturing new congregations.
My first reaction is a faster heartbeat. I'm looking forward to the next 5 years.

Getting windy

I posted a new entry at i.ucc.org.
OK -- I posted it late Sunday night but forgot to mention it here. It's short and lively and hopefully it will make you think a bit. This week's entry is called "It's gonna get windy."

This entry is designed to provoke. It's intention is to make the reader uncomfortable. It desires to make it impossible for you to ignore it.

Here's a gross-out beginning.

In Ezekiel 37:1-14, God showed Ezekiel something incredible: I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin.

Eeeew!

But then the spirit -- the wind, the breath of God *(all the same thing here) goes to work. The bones --that were once dry, then covered with ligaments and muscles and skin -- came to life. There was a huge army of them.

The Ezekiel passage about the dry bones coming to life is explained as a prophecy about the rebirth of Israel -- a nation that was then in exile. The scene is weird, vivid -- yet dreamlike.
Acts 2:1-21 -- another Bible passage featuring the spirit -- the wind -- the breath of God -- isn't so "dreamy.

The believers were all gathered in a house -- and all of a sudden there was a violent and rushing wind that filled the place where they were. It was intense -- thrilling -- moving -- troubling . . .
Just when some were getting comfortable with the way things were, everything changed.

People talked differently. Strange things seemed to be flying all over the room. It was unsettling! And after the wind came, things would never be the same. Some were excited by the change. Others were angered and just wanted things to get back to normal.

But it didn't.

Places like i.ucc and this blog are hopefully part of the uneasy, thrilling, moving, troubling wind of the Holy Spirit showing up and moving us to new places and previously unheard of ideas and hard questions and major skeptics and life to the fullest.

May God reach us in the places we keep hidden. May God reach us where we are fearful. May God reach us where we are uncomfortable. Let the wind blow!